No charges in Prophetstown bar brawl

Man says he has $196,000 in medical bills

PROPHETSTOWN – No charges will be filed in the case of a Prophetstown man who said he was attacked outside a local bar in September.

Recently, a grand jury decided against indicting anyone involved in the incident in the parking lot near Kuel's Pub, 213 Washington St. in Prophetstown.

In interviews with Sauk Valley Media last year, Eugene Pashon, 30, said he got into a fistfight with a man in the bar's parking lot. He said five men then approached him and started beating him up. He said he got knocked out and remembered nothing after that.

Pashon was taken to CGH Medical Center in Sterling, then flown to a hospital in Peoria. He said he suffered brain injuries, racking up $196,000 in medical bills. He said in December that he was suffering from memory loss as a result of the injuries.

"Eugene wrote a check his mouth couldn't cash," a sheriff's deputy wrote in his notes. "He was mouthing off and his friends were holding him back from some other subjects when he broke free. After he broke free, Eugene ran over to confront or fight and they Pearl Harbored his butt with a surprise attack."

Citing the secrecy of grand jury deliberations, Whiteside County State's Attorney Trish Joyce, the county's lead prosecutor, said she could reveal only that the jury declined to indict anyone in the matter. She wouldn't say how many suspects were involved.

Prosecutors can take cases to a grand jury, where the defense is not present, or they can go to a public preliminary hearing, where a judge decides whether there is probable cause to go to trial.

"My policy is to submit a case to the grand jury where there is a genuine question whether there are sufficient facts to file and prove a case," Joyce wrote in an email Monday. "Instead of presenting only the facts that would be favorable to the state's case, we present all of the facts known to us so that the grand jury may help us determine the viability of a case."

She said it wasn't rare that a grand jury declines to indict, which has happened at least three times since she has taken office.

Pashon couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

In December, he said he had heard that others had claimed they were acting in self-defense in the incident, but he said that was hardly possible, given that it was five people against one.

Pashon acknowledged that he didn't have the best history. In 2012, he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery of a police officer. He said he had gotten into a scuffle with the officer during a DUI arrest.

"When you're drinking, you don't make the best decisions," Pashon said.